Family Weekend allows parents to experience Lehigh
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| Family Weekend on Oct. 26-28 features activities to engage, educate and enrich a family's visit. |
“The spirit of Family Weekend is to provide parents the opportunity to reunite with their students and experience Lehigh,” says Caroline Clifford, director of University Events.
Activities offered promise to engage, educate and enrich a family’s visit, Clifford says. “We hope to provide activities that appeal to the majority of parents,” she says.
For the first time, Family Weekend will feature “An Hour with the President” on Saturday morning from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. During this special session, Lehigh President Alice P. Gast and her senior staff members will address questions and concerns from students’ loved ones. Before opening the floor for a question-and-answer session, Gast will talk about issues and topics facing Lehigh University today.
The president’s discussion follows a presentation featuring faculty from all four colleges. During their 15-minute presentations, faculty will discuss economics of obesity, U.S. foreign policy, the effect of disasters on mental health, and lessons learned through good deeds.
Family Weekend begins Friday morning with open classes for parents to learn what their students’ learn.
At 4:00 p.m. that afternoon, Jack Pope ’08P, ‘10P, will speak about waste and resource management. Pope chairs Waste Management, Inc., the leading provider of waste and environmental services in North America.
Kirk Colton ’78G, ’02P, director of the Parents' Committee, selected the parent speaker.
“He’s an interesting gentleman with an extensive business background and leading role at Waste Management,” says Colton.
He believes Pope’s discussion will dovetail with the university’s Science, Technology, Environment, Policy & Society (STEPS) Initiative. To read more about STEPS, click here.
After the faculty discussion and president’s hour, Lehigh fans can cheer for the Mountain Hawks football team as they host the Georgetown Hoyas. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. Following the game, students and their guests are welcomed to a reception in the Rauch Field House.
Entertainment on Friday and Saturday evening promises to please most tastes. Music lovers can listen to the elegant harmonies of the LU Choral Arts. Accompanied by metropolitan opera soprano Marjorie Elinor Dix, the LU Choral Arts will sing pieces by great Romantic composers and the female composers in their lives. The concert, titled “All in the Family,” will be performed Friday and Saturday evenings, beginning at 8 p.m. both nights, in Baker Hall Auditorium within the Zoellner Arts Center.
Next door in Diamond Theater, theater buffs can enjoy “The Country Wife,” produced by Lehigh’s Department of Theatre. This bawdy comedy by William Wycherley describes the adventures of a London rake who claims impotence to safely woo the London wives. The play begins at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
On Saturday, laughs, giggles and hoots will abound as New York City-based standup comedian Christian Finnegan entertains the audience. Finnegan can be seen as a panelist on VH1's hit series Best Week Ever. His credits also include his own half-hour Comedy Central special and regular appearances on The Today Show.
Sunday morning at 9 a.m., students can race their guests to the finish line during the 5K Walk/Run, which benefits the Southside Bethlehem Neighborhood Center.
Even if parents choose only to attend a few of the university events, Family Weekend provides them with an excuse to visit their child. “The key thing is for parents to enjoy time with their son and daughter, and as time permits to experience some of the other opportunities your child does,” says Colton.
For a complete list of events and more detailed information, visit Lehigh’s Family Weekend Web page.
--Becky Straw
Posted on:
Thursday, October 25, 2007
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